1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to analyzing computer network activity. More particularly, the present invention relates to visualizing traffic patterns over a computer network that correlates related documents and their associated usage data.
2. Background of the Invention
A global computer network exists as a collection of smaller networks interconnected to allow them to function as a single virtual network. One such global computer network is the World Wide Web (xe2x80x9cthe Webxe2x80x9d). Users of the Web access nodes or websites stored on connected servers all over the world. A website is a file stored at a physical location on a server that contains content an entity wishes to share with the rest of the users on the Web. The popularity of the Web has made websites effective marketing tools through which businesses may advertise products and services, news services provide news on a broad range of topics, and libraries provide online volumes of all types of information.
Web browsers allow individual users to search the Web for a particular topic, and return the websites address conforming to a universal resource language (URL), which allows the user to immediately access desired website. Large websites will often maintain enormous numbers of files with large storage and processing requirements. Commercial Web servers maintain many websites. Because Web traffic patterns shift dramatically based on the time of day, the day of the week, and sporadic events, it is important to be able to monitor the traffic patterns so that resources such as bandwidth and storage space may be allocated accordingly.
For example, objective information such as which websites are being accessed, how often they have been accessed, and which files are being downloaded is very valuable information both to the entity responsible for the content on the website as well as the entity managing the server which hosts the website. Based on web traffic information, an individual site may be edited for content based on usage, with more emphasis placed on areas that receive high traffic, and areas that are rarely visited may be removed. For marketing purposes, a company that posts product information on a website may use traffic information to gauge the popularity or potential success of a new product or service.
Conventional attempts to quantify Web traffic have focused on the use of log files, which list websites and numbers of hits or accesses. However, for a large number of websites, or for a large number of files within a given website, it is difficult to convey traffic information effectively. One visualization method, described as Interactive Visualization of Serial Periodic Data, and published in the Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, November, 1998, describes a method of displaying data that is serial along a spiral axis and periodic along the radii from the axis. However, this visualization technique does not avoid the extreme aspect ratio of plotting a large number of URLs, such that widely varying values are difficult to visualize. It also conceals information within the image.
Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus to visualize computer network traffic in a manner that is meaningful to a viewer.
The present invention allows the generation of a three-dimensional chart having a radial layout which displays network traffic across selected nodes on a network over a period of time. Graph 100 may be shown in a window displayed as a three-dimensional window 101. Graph 100 shows 30 days of Web traffic from approximately 5000 URLs that are sorted lexicographically. Time is mapped along the x-axis 102. The URLs are mapped radially about the axis 102. As shown, the mapping is only displayed across an angle span of 180 degrees because in the preferred embodiment there is no relationship between the first and last URL. However, larger angle spans may be used. Usage or access to computer files corresponding to the individual URLs is mapped to the distance from axis 102.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a method for visualizing relationships between files stored on a computer network and usage data associated with the files, the method comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining information containing at least one identifier identifying a node in a network and the number of user accesses to the node over a period of time; and (b) creating a graph wherein the information is displayed in a three dimensional line chart with a radial layout, where a first distance between a line and a radial axis represents number of accesses to the node, time is mapped to the radial axis, and nodes having similar identifiers are represented by lines having similar angles of rotation about the radial axis.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a computer readable medium for use with computer apparatus, the medium including computer instructions which, when executed by the computer apparatus: (a) obtain information containing at least one node identifier identifying a node and a number of user accesses to the node over a period of time; and (b) create a graph wherein the information is displayed in a three dimensional line chart with a radial layout, where a first distance between a line and a radial axis represents number of accesses to the node, time is mapped to the radial axis, and nodes having similar identifiers are represented by lines having similar angles of rotation about the radial axis.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for visualizing relationships between nodes stored on a computer network and usage data associated with the nodes, the method comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining information containing at least one node identifier identifying a node and the number of user accesses to the node at a specified time; and (b) creating a graph wherein the information is displayed in a two dimensional line chart having a radial layout about a point in a single dimension, where a line having an angle of rotation about the point and extending from the point represents number of accesses to the node, and nodes having similar identifiers are represented by lines having similar angles of rotation about the point.